ICT Project Management: Waterfall Model, PMBOK, and Project Life Cycle

This report provides an in-depth analysis of ICT project management methodologies, with a specific focus on the Waterfall model. It begins by defining project methodology and its role in project management, followed by a justification for choosing the Waterfall model. A comparison is then made between the Waterfall model and the PMBOK (Project Management Body of Knowledge), highlighting their similarities and differences. The report further explores the relationship between the Waterfall model and the project life cycle (PLC), detailing how the sequential phases of the Waterfall model align with the PLC stages. The analysis concludes by addressing criticisms of the Waterfall model, particularly in software development, and emphasizing its strengths, such as thorough documentation and structured change management processes. Desklib offers a wealth of similar resources, including past papers and solved assignments, to aid students in their studies.

Running head: ICT PROJECT MANAGEMENT
ICT project management
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author Note

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Executive summary
The report discusses the knowledge of project management methodologies and chooses the Waterfall
model as the instance. Then it defines the Waterfall model to compare and contrast with the PMBOK
or Project Management Body of Knowledge. Ultimately, an analysis is done on Waterfall model and
its relation to project life cycle or PLC.

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Table of Contents
Introduction:..........................................................................................................................................2
1. Defining project methodology and the role it serves in project management:..................................2
2. Choosing proper project management methodology:........................................................................3
3. Relation of Waterfall model with the project life cycle or PLC:.......................................................4
Conclusion:............................................................................................................................................5
References:............................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction:
The ICT or Information AND Communication Technology project management deal with the
planning, managing and presenting the roles for finishing the IT goals. The following study intends
to demonstrate the knowledge of project management methodologies.
The following report defines the project methodology and chooses one to compare and
contrast with the PMBOK or Project Management Body of Knowledge one. For this the Waterfall
model is chosen. Lastly, the report discusses how it gets related to project life cycle or PLC.
1. Defining project methodology and the role it serves in project management:
The project management methodologies guide the processes for the people performing
project management. The methodologies have never been technology specific. However, in the
current software-reliant scenario, the methodology and the software tool of the organization’s project
management are often intertwined1. Thus, the project methodology is the must-have for avoiding the
failure and decreasing the risks. This is because it is has been an important success factor and the
core competency for the management team. This straightforward method guides the team via
development and executing the steps, methods and activities across the life-cycle of the project
management.
In project management, the project methodology helps in controlling the complete
management process. This is done via effective decision making and problem solving. This is done
1 M. Rahmanian, A comparative study on hybrid IT project management. International Journal of
Computer and Information Technology, 3(05), pp.1096-1099, 2014.

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through assuring the success of particular methods, approaches, tools, methods and techniques2. The
methodology supplies the outline to describe all the steps in details. This helps the project manager
to be aware of what has been needed to be done for delivering and implementing the works as per as
the schedule, client specification and budget.
Thus the project methodologies in project management are the firmly defined assimilation of
the practices that are related logically. This also includes the processes and methods to develop, plan,
manage and provide the project around the consistent process of implementation till the successful
termination and completion. Thus the project methodologies help in project designing, execution and
finishing of project managements scientifically, systematically and disciplinarily.
2. Choosing proper project management methodology:
For the current study, the Waterfall model is chosen. This is sequential. It is utilized in
various industries, specifically in software development3. This contains the static phases executed in
a particular order. The waterfall helps in a rise in control around every phase. However, it is largely
flexible as the scope of the project changes after it gets already underway.
On the other hand, Waterfall has been highly associated with the PMBOK. Essentially the
PMBOK guide is the manual of the best practices for the project management. It is the broad
2 C. Snyder, A project manager's book of forms: A companion to the PMBOK guide. John Wiley &
Sons, 2017.
3 B. Davis and D. Radford, Going Beyond the Waterfall: Managing Scope Effectively Across the
Project Life Cycle. J. Ross Publishing, 2014.

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inventory of the ideas4. Thus the central contrast of PMBOK with the Waterfall is that it is only a
guide and not a project management methodology.
The Waterfall is the method to develop or design the processes like software development.
As per as the similarities with PMBOK is concerned the Waterfall provides the fundamental guide to
establish where the PMBOK supplies a repository of techniques for managing the process of
development further. This indicates that PMBOK practices have been related to Waterfall5. This is
because PMBOK has been covering various essential aspects to be an efficient project manager
under the environment of Waterfall. Multiple people have suggested the PMBOK has surrendered
itself to the methodology of Waterfall. However, they have never been connected. Moreover, the
practices of PMBOK have not been exclusively helpful for the practitioners of Waterfall.
3. Relation of Waterfall model with the project life cycle or PLC:
For the PLC, the requirements of Waterfall are completely defined at the beginning prior the
activities start. The tasks cascades, like the waterfall via various project phases. Here every phase
finished before the following phase starts without any overlapping. Thus the results of the phases act
as the input for the following phase in a sequential manner6.
4 J. Boyde, A Down-To-Earth Guide To SDLC Project Management: Getting your system/software
development life cycle project successfully across the line using PMBOK adaptively. Joshua Boyde,
2014.
5 S. Palmquist, M.A. Lapham, S. Garcia-Miller, T.A. Chickh and I. Ozkaya, Parallel worlds: Agile
and waterfall differences and similarities, 2013.
6 E. Fernandes Gonçalves, G. Meirelles Drumond and M. Picinini Méxas, Evaluation of PMBOK
and scrum practices for software development in the vision of specialists. Independent Journal of

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As the plan gets approves, there lie small chances to adapt the program till there is any
absolute necessity. The modifications needed usually needs change requests7. Then the project flows
via the process from the requirements, design, implementing, resting and maintenance.
As the PLC is a single approach in the Waterfall project, there lays few chances for
reflecting, revising and adapting s anything gets completed. As one is in the testing phase, it turns
out to be much complex to return and alter anything that has not been designed well in the concept
stage. There has been nothing to highlight and state the client as the PLC proceeds8.
Conclusion:
In the above study, the Waterfall is chosen as a practical project management methodology.
There has been a criticism of this mainly the domain of software application development about the
extravagant use of documenting and planning. Further, the up-front design necessities have been
more and incompatible with various real-life situations. However, the time and costs get saved
profoundly with the entirely documenting needs in the early phase of the PLC. Moreover, this
thorough recording is a good practice, particularly in the primarily regulated industrial sectors. The
fundamental ways to deal with the different inevitable changes to the requirements are defined
Management & Production, 2017.
7 C.T. Algeo, Action Research in a Project Environment. The Sage Encyclopedia of Action
Research, 2014.
8 L. Banica, M. Radulescu and A. Hagiu, Towards an Agile Approach in Academic Software
Development-A Case Study, 2016.

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entirely and imposed in the change management process. This is an apparent strong suit of the
Waterfall model.

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References:
Algeo, C.T., Action Research in a Project Environment. The Sage Encyclopedia of Action Research,
2014.
Banica, L., Radulescu, M. and Hagiu, A, Towards an Agile Approach in Academic Software
Development-A Case Study, 2016.
Boyde, J., A Down-To-Earth Guide To SDLC Project Management: Getting your system/software
development life cycle project successfully across the line using PMBOK adaptively. Joshua Boyde,
2014.
Davis, B. and Radford, D., Going Beyond the Waterfall: Managing Scope Effectively Across the
Project Life Cycle. J. Ross Publishing, 2014.
Fernandes Gonçalves, E., Meirelles Drumond, G. and Picinini Méxas, M., Evaluation of PMBOK
and scrum practices for software development in the vision of specialists. Independent Journal of
Management & Production, 8(5), 2017.
Palmquist, S., Lapham, M.A., Garcia-Miller, S., Chick, T.A. and Ozkaya, I., Parallel worlds: Agile
and waterfall differences and similarities, 2013.
Rahmanian, M., A comparative study on hybrid IT project management. International Journal of
Computer and Information Technology, 2014, 3(05), p.1096-1099.
Snyder, C., A project manager's book of forms: A companion to the PMBOK guide. John Wiley &
Sons, 2017.

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